MT standout Alysha Clark (right) was chosen by the San Antonio Silver Stars as the 17th overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft presented by Adidas. Photo courtesy of NBAE/Getty Images
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Middle Tennessee State standout Alysha Clark will begin her professional basketball career with the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars next season.
Clark was picked 17th overall in the second round during Thursday's WNBA Draft in New Jersey.
“It’s pretty exciting. It feels pretty good,” Clark said about being selected.
“It’s an amazing feeling when you get to this level you know you’ll be playing with the best players around,” she added.
She ends her Blue Raider career holding the school and Sun Belt Conference record for averaging the most points per game in a single-season with 28.3. Clark was the nation’s top scorer for the second year in a row and the only two-time All-American in Blue Raider history.
During her college career, Clark mostly played the power forward position, but experts had her moving to small forward because of her lack of size. She said MTSU head coach Rick Insell helped her make the transition.
“I knew it was something I had to do so it wouldn’t be such a big surprise when I had to do it,” Clark said. She also has worked on her perimeter game and learning how to take shots after the dribble.
Her college career ended with a loss to Mississippi State in the first round of the 2010 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
One of her opponents that day was Alexis Rack, but now she becomes Clark’s teammate in San Antonio. Rack was picked 29th overall in the third round. Stanford’s Jayne Appel was the squad’s first round pick at No. 5.
Along with the new players, the Sliver Stars enter the upcoming season with a new coach at the helm. Sandy Brondello takes over a team that finished 15-19 last season, but still made the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The team lost in the first round to the Phoenix Mercury.
The franchise was an original member of the league, when it was formed in 1997. However, the team was known as the Utah Starzz until 2002. Two years ago, San Antonio made it all the way to the WNBA Finals, but lost to the Detroit Shock. The Shock is now located in Tulsa.
Speaking of the Shock, the team received former Lady Raider Amber Holt in a trade with Connecticut Sun on Wednesday. Before Clark’s selection, Holt was the last former Blue Raider to be drafted into the league in 2008 as the ninth pick by the Sun.
That season, Holt was named to the All-Rookie team and was one of only two first-year players to start all 34 contests. She is looking to rebound from an injury-shortened 2009 season.
Clark’s first regular season game is May 15 against the Atlanta Dream. Holt begins her stint with the Shock the same day against the Minnesota Lynx.
David Hunter can be contacted at dh1683mt@yahoo.com. |
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